Cleavable comonomers enable degradable, recyclable thermoset plastics.

ABSTRACT: Thermosets-polymeric materials that adopt a permanent shape upon curing-have a key role in the modern plastics and rubber industries, comprising about 20 per cent of polymeric materials manufactured today, with a worldwide annual production of about 65 million tons^1,2. The high density of crosslinks that gives thermosets their useful properties (for example, chemical and thermal resistance and tensile strength) comes at the expense of degradability and recyclability. Here, using the industrial thermoset polydicyclopentadiene as a model system, we show that when a small number of cleavable bonds are selectively installed within the strands of thermosets using a comonomer additive in otherwise traditional curing workflows, the resulting materials can display the same mechanical pr

SUBMITTER: Shieh P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7384294 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature